How We Found Our First 30 Clients
It’s been less than a year since I started Draft.dev and we’ve already built up a roster of 32 recurring customers, over 60 freelance writers, and a full-time staff of five. I’ve learned more than I could have imagined—especially about sales and marketing—and I’ve had a ton of fun doing it.
So, I wanted to capture a bit about the journey so far as it might be helpful to other entrepreneurs. In this post, I’m going to cover what we do and how we arrived at product-market fit, the customer acquisition channels we used to get there, and a bit about where we’re going next at Draft.dev.
Sponsor
Technical Content for Software Startups
Draft.dev creates blog posts and tutorials designed to reach software engineers. Stop begging your engineers to write and start producing more content today!
Business
The Economics of Dollar Stores
I always find this kind of deep dive into the economics of a sector to be interesting.
Your Startup Idea Should be 'Hit by a Bus' Worthy
"Imagine you get hit by a bus tomorrow. You are bleeding out on the street and you are a goner. It's the end. Are you going to be happy about what you have been working on?"
Joining Hypergrowth Startups
I've joined a few early stage startups now, so I found this post to be spot on. I also wrote a longer piece on this topic earlier this year if you missed it.
Technology
An [Imaginary] Day in the Life of a Professional Software Engineer
A very tongue and cheek look at what you'd think software engineers do based on job interviews.
Software Development is a Creative Process
"Software is an art not a science, a process to create software based on requirements. Writers aim to create so many words a day, they can’t guarantee quality but they have a target of words to be created. The creation is the first part of the process and then there is an editing and refining process."
A Project of One's Own by Paul Graham
"There is something special about working on a project of your own. I wouldn't say exactly that you're happier. A better word would be excited, or engaged. You're happy when things are going well, but often they aren't."
Leadership
Triplebyte is Pivoting
I've said before how flawed I think the quiz-based assessment model is for engineers, and it looks like Triplebyte is catching on:
"We no longer require a quiz or interview to join. Engineers are almost completely unique as a labor force. There is far more demand for engineers than there is supply, and that makes engineers powerful in a way other professions are not."
Tech Debt is not a Burden, it's a Strategic Lever
"Companies never win by having as little as possible tech debt. Speed to delivery, being first to market, and constantly adding value to the product are things that lead to winning."
Peopleware: All Technology Problems are Really People Problems
People - not technology - are the reason that software projects (and by extension, software startups) live and die.